Is it ever acceptable to..

[moomin35]

...leave your baby in the car if you are going to be 5 minutes max. ie. paying at a petrol station, parking directly outside & popping into a shop etc?

[pjsgalore]

I do. As long as the car is in sight. I remember reading a post about this where someone had said it was probably more dangerous to carry a child across a busy forecourt then it was to leave them in the car for a few minutes. And I thought that was quite a good point!

[PinkAndBlueBedtimeBears]

Another occasion I leave them in the car? If one or both are asleep..
We live in a flat building which is about 1min walk from our car park then up two flights of stairs..

Dd (18mo) if asleep will transfer to her cot, but obviously needs to be carried with two arms.. So ds (2 weeks) is left in the car in his car seat whilst I take dd up then I go back down for him.. If dd is awake she can walk..

[WhatsMyAgeAgain]

Only when paying for petrol or if I've forgotten something in the house. Can't think of any other occasion when I would leave baby in the car.

[somewheresomehow]

petrol yes , shop/s no

[mumofboyo]

I leave my just-turned 3 yr old and nearly 2 yr old in the car when paying for petrol or nipping to the cash machine. I also leave them in the car when I've just strapped them in before realising I need a wee or have forgotten something so quickly run into the house, or when we've got home with a trillion bags: it's easier to get that lot in first before getting the kids out.

[vestandknickers]

Yes, I always did at a petrol station. Not sure I would have done at a shop. There is always a very good view of the car in a petrol station which is why it is different.

[zippey]

I do this all the time when paying for petrol - such a hassle, taking them out of car seat and back in again.

I do it on occasions when njipping to the shops too, though I do sweat it, and if its a big car park, it can be a bit panicky to figure out where you parked!

[PandaNot]

In 25ish years of driving I have never seen anyone take their children in to pay for petrol. Admittedly for a lot of those years I might not have noticed but since joining mumsnet (many years ago now) I have looked specifically and have yet to spot anyone.

[TheSkiingGardener]

Yes if I can see the car. I have a 4 year old and a 1 year old and the 4 year old knows to jump in the front and sound the horn if he needs me too.

[Boysclothes]

Yes I do this all the time. If I can see car from where I'm going I will leave him.

[EmmanuelWoganberry]

freedom I was joking.

[PenguinsHatchedAnEgg]

I look out for 'pay at pump', but the thought of unstrapping three children, traipsing across the forecourt with them (trying to avoid the middle one legging it into the path of a car), and turning a 2 minute job into a 15 minute job just doesn't stack up for me.

[PastaBow]

Only at the petrol station. All those saying 'no, I take my baby in to pay' clearly only have one baby in an infant carrier.

I can't imagine unstrapping my two year old and carrying baby in car seat across forecourt.

I've been driving for 15 years and have never seen anyone take a toddler into the shop so I can only conclude the majority of drivers leave them.

[evertonmint]

If in full view all the time, yes. For me that is:
Petrol station
Bakers (big glass window, parking right outside)
Cash machine outside bank

Only exception is outside nursery, yes as it is a car park down a private dead-end lane with no passers by.

Otherwise, no, never.

6yo DS keeps begging to be left while I go into Tesco with his 2 younger siblings. I say no, although this is in large part because he's the only one who is a help rather than a hindrance in the supermarket

[Only1scoop]

Have done it at petrol station. Never to shop across a road though.

[Acunningruse]

Yes to petrol station where I can see the car, delivering somehing to a house, posting letter in post box.No to a shop where the car wouldn't be in view.

[PinkAndBlueBedtimeBears]

I do, my dp doesn't.. It's personal choice and we both think the other is wrong
I leave dd and ds in the car when I'm paying for petrol, there is no way I can safely get an 18mo and a newborn across a forecourt and the double buggy would seem like overkill!
The only other place I leave them in the car is if I'm running into a corner shop style place, where there is likely to only be a queue of 1-2 people, if there's a bigger queue/ a lot of people in the shop I either leave it and ask dp to pick it up on his way home from work, or il go and get both out.. normally the former..

[17leftfeet]

I used to do it when they were small and I could see the car

I remember one particularly lovely lady screaming at me for leaving my sleeping 2 year old and 6 month old in the car outside the door of the bakers for all of 2 minutes -that was a highlight I must say

[freedom2post]

Sleeping not leering

[freedom2post]

I wouldn't leave my baby on a petrol forecourt either - I would leave them strapped into their car seat inside a car on a petrol forecourt.

Much more dangerous to cross the forecourt with them IMHO.

I notice the poster who said doesn't have a car, wonder how keen they would be to wake a a leering baby and carry them across a busy petrol station in reality

[DeadSirius]

From my perspective in the US, no, never. It takes minutes for a car to heat to fatal temperatures on a hot day. Accidents happen every year. The risk can be so great that it's just not acceptable anytime.

[EmmanuelWoganberry]

I wouldn’t dream of leaving my baby on a petrol station forecourt. But I don’t have a car.

[workingtitle]

Petrol, yes (leaving car unlocked and in sight). Anywhere else, probably not.

[ophiotaurus]

Petrol yes

Supermarket no

[slithytove]

Petrol yes shop no unless it's the equivalent of a petrol station shop. Supermarket never.